Chris Harrison blogs 'The Bachelorette': Episode 3

Image Credit: Bob D’Amico/ABCI hope you enjoyed Monday night’s show, which I’ve entitled “The Long Limp Home.” There is much to discuss from this episode, but first I want to answer a question I got via Twitter that I’ve actually never been asked before. Someone wanted to know when I compose my weekly blogs for EW.com. The answer is I write them the week before the episode airs, and yes, they’re written by me and me alone. I do take notes along the way to keep the stories fresh in my mind, but I really need to see the finished product to know exactly what we’re going to see and hear. By the way, I would like to congratulate all of you for becoming members of the mile-high blog club. I’m writing this at 30,000 feet while flying out to D.C to host the National Spelling Bee. I’d like to take a quick moment to thank those that watched the Spelling Bee last Friday. I loved hosting it and was blown away by the brilliance and poise of those young kids. It gave me a little hope for the future and it also made me feel pretty dumb.

I want to interrupt this blog to give you a rather ironic real-life moment. I’m sitting here blogging, listening to my tunes, and who else but the Barenaked Ladies comes on. The song that came on was “Off the Hook,” not “You Runaway,” but come on, that’s pretty bizarre right? Some of you asked last week about a theme song…well you’ve got one now, “You Runaway” by the Barenaked Ladies.

Okay. Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself (oxygen deprivation and airplane food will do that). Let’s begin with Ali’s first one-on-one date this week with Roberto. A couple of things jumped out at me. One, I don’t care how many times I see it, getting picked up in a helicopter is just cool. Having your first kiss 20 stories above L.A. is even cooler. But, I’m a little worried about something Ali said on an otherwise perfect date. In her interview, Ali wondered if she is pretty enough for Roberto. This is the insecurity I spoke of in week one coming out in her. When faced with something that’s too good to be true, Ali questions it instead of embracing it. In other words, at times she can be her own worst enemy and it’s something that will continue throughout the season.

As I mentioned earlier, we have our theme song this season. The Barenaked Ladies were fantastic. I was happy to see my man, Paul Danner, get more screen time. He was the big man running the video shoot. Speaking of the shoot, how unbelievably awkward was Jonathan? There are nerves, and then there’s that display. I’m no doctor, but after almost 17 years of marriage and 20 seasons of this show, I might as well be. As a self-proclaimed doctor of love, I know a couple things to be true: One, when you get a chance to kiss a beautiful woman, you take it. Secondly, there’s no crying in baseball or on video shoots. That last part is written down somewhere, or maybe I heard Jay-Z say it; either way it’s a fact. The only thing more awkward than Jonathan on the video shoot was him trying to get the kiss from Ali at the wrap party. Despite all this, he did survive the storm (weatherman pun) and received a rose this week. We’ll see if he can settle down and get back on his game. Two other things of note on this date that stood out to Ali were Chris L. opening up a bit about his mom, and Kirk opening up and taking control of the date and getting the rose.

I want to briefly talk about Hunter and his one-on-one date. Hunter is one of those good guys that comes on this show and just never really feels comfortable. Sometimes despite your best efforts, this atmosphere just gets the better of you, and that was the case for Hunter. He and Ali just didn’t have it, and he was out of his comfort zone.

Now let’s talk Justin and his long limp up to Ali’s house and the firestorm he stirred up in the house. Justin took it upon himself to find out where Ali lived and crutch his way up there. Just so you know, Ali’s house is only about a mile away but it’s straight up a canyon road through two tunnels. The guys did wonder where Justin was, but they just assumed he was upstairs asleep. Ali had no idea he was coming. As you saw, she was being interviewed about the guys before her one-on-one date with Hunter. Now here comes the big moral debate that I will pose to you this week: Was this a good, sincere move on Justin’s part? Ali loved it and was incredibly impressed. Isn’t that what’s important here? If you do have a problem with it, was it the act of hiking up there or the attitude he showed to the guys after?

I know this for sure; when Ali accidentally spilled the beans to the guys, the place went nuts. The guys already didn’t trust Justin but now they wanted to drag him out back and drown him in the pool. I find it incredibly ironic that Ali is now facing a situation that is almost identical to last season with her and Vienna. She has grown a lot from that experience and is using that experience to try to wade through this ordeal. As Vienna found out last season, being on the outs from everybody else in the house is very isolating and trying. I promise you this is far from over. This was a wild week but things are about to be kicked up a notch as we begin our journey around the world. Before I leave you this week, I want to wish a very special happy birthday to one of the most amazing women in my life — Happy 94th to Hermine Sallinger! I also want to be clear that despite what you saw in the closing credits, no mice were harmed in the filming of this show! Keep the comments coming, they’ve been great this season and you can always find me on twitter @chrisbharrison and on facebook. One last note, I highly recommend you read this blog while listening to “Levon” by Elton John. I just did and it really makes it pop.